Students at the Warring Magnet Academy of Science and Technology in the City of Poughkeepsie packed their passports and visited 18 countries in two days this past week.
The journey was a part of the school’s World’s Fair, and the itinerary encompassed countries from six continents, including Australia, Brazil, France, Kenya, the United States of America and China.
Previously, Warring’s fifth-grade students hosted a State Fair in the school’s gymnasium, where each class had groups of students who completed projects on various states in the nation, which were then presented to visitors from other grades. The World’s Fair was the first event of its kind at the school, and it included all students in each grade.
According to Warring principal Lisa Thompson, the fair began small, but evolved.
“Somebody said, ‘Why don’t we do countries?’ It just grew from there. We didn’t have anything totally inclusive prior to the World’s Fair, and this was our first time branching off into an entirely multicultural event,” said Thompson.
The fair, which was months in the making, took place on Friday, June 6, and Monday, June 9, and was inspired by the world’s diverse cultures. It included projects and exhibits focusing on traditions, beliefs and customs of peoples around the world, demonstrating the school’s focus on cultural diversity.
“This was a great project, because it gave the students a chance to see something way outside of their own experiences,” said first grade teacher George Segnit, whose students studied Israel.
Segnit’s walls were papered with maps of Israel, and student artwork covered the tables.
His class chose to study Israel because one of their teaching assistants is from the Middle Eastern country.
Meanwhile, upstairs in Shanna Didymus’ fifth-grade classroom, students were studying presidents and quizzing one another on state capitals.
“As soon as I began to make this game board, I learned all the states and their capitals,” said 10-year-old Mason Prince, who created a Jeopardy-style geography quiz. “At first I thought it would be boring, but I learned a lot.”
Didymus, who has been teaching in the Poughkeepsie City School District since 2001, was once a fifth-grade student at Warring academy herself. She recalled studying the United States as part of the fifth-grade curriculum, but never like this. “It’s expanded a great deal,” she said.
Her students read books about past presidents and created license plates for the states. They studied different regions of the country, including the “blazing southwest.”
“Did you know Texas is the biggest state with the most square footage?” asked 11-year-old Brandon Lodge, “and Washington, D.C., is the nation’s capital.”
Didymus created a slideshow of United States landmarks, and patriotic music filled the classroom. Each student who passed through her door got a Statue of Liberty stamp on their passport.
Thompson was pleased with the outcome of the fair, and said that some teachers have already begun planning for next year’s edition.
“The World’s Fair was fabulous. Each year we try to do some kind of collaborative, group-based presentation,” she said, “The exhibits and the research were great for the students.”